Dr. Pipt
'''Dr. Pipt' is "The Crooked Magician" who lives in the Munchkin Country of the Land of Oz. Description The Crooked Magician is so crooked that his legs are nearly as handy as his arms. When he sits, one knee is under his chin and the other behind his back. He is a cheerful man and his face is pleasant and agreeable. He lives on a mountain in the Munchkin Country in a big house surrounded by a grim forest. The house is round and painted blue, with a pretty garden with blue trees and blue flowers in abundance. In one part of the garden there are beds of blue cabbages, blue carrots, and blue lettuce, as well as bun-trees, cake-trees, cream-puff bushes, blue buttercups which yield excellent blue butter, and a row of chocolate-caramel plants. Paths of blue gravel divide the flower and vegetable beds, and a wide path leads to the front door. At the back of the house is a domed hall which serves as the Magician's workshop. It's windows extend nearly around the circular room, except where it attaches to the main house. There is a door into the house and another back door to the outside. The room is furnished with chairs and benches, and at one end stands a great fireplace. History Dr. Pipt lives in the Munchkin Country with his wife Margolotte. He invented the Powder of Life, and used it to animate both the Patchwork Girl and the Glass Cat. He also created the Liquid of Petrifaction, which turns things to marble. Unfortunately, it spilled on his wife Margolotte and friend Unc Nunkie. When Glinda learned that Dr. Pipt was practicing magic illegally, he was brought to the Emerald City and deprived of his ability to do magic. His wife was restored to life and his crooked limbs were straightened; he was sent back home as nothing more than a simple Munchkin. (The Patchwork Girl of Oz) The Crooked Magician's Name In The Marvelous Land of Oz, it is implied that the inventor of the Powder of Life is a Dr. Nikidik, another crooked magician from the Gillikin Country or Dr. Pipt living under an alias. Oz characters sometimes change their names—Roquat the Nome King becomes Ruggedo. There have been different theories proposed to explain the name change. In an article in the Spring 1965 issue of The Baum Bugle, Lee Speth argues that Nikidik faked his death in the earlier book, to assume a new identity as Pipt. In the majority of modern Oz stories, e.g., The Living House of Oz, Bungle and the Magic Lantern of Oz, "Unc Nunkie and the White King of Oz," The Witch Queen of Oz, The Master Crafters of Oz, Bungle in Oz, The Red Gorilla of Oz, and others, Dr. Pipt and Nikidik are two different individuals, although one uses the other's name as an alias. Dr. Pipt is established by Baum to be the creator of The Powder of Life. Dr. Nikidik is the creator of The Wishing Pills (which, as per Ruth Plumly Thompson, the Wizard learns to make on his own). Donald Abbott's Father Goose in Oz, gives as Dr. Pipt's first name, Ozwald. Category:Oz Book Characters Category:Munchkins